Run with Endurance

Introduction

Good morning please turn in your Bible’s to Hebrews 12:1-3 that is Hebrews 12:1-3. If you are using one of the Bible’s scattered throughout the chairs our text is on page… You might not know this but I know the winner of the 2023 London Marathon. When I speak to people you enjoy running I may or may not drop this fact and I may or may not clarify that the London marathon I am referring to in the London, OH marathon. You see I know the winner of the London Marathon and many of you do as well it is none other than Joe Montoya. Joe ran cross country and track in college and he trained for this marathon and trained with the goal of winning it. He ran his race and he ran it well. He ran it in two hours and 45 minutes which means he ran 26.2 miles at a mile pace of about 6:30 per mile. That is fast, and when you run that fast your leave it all out on the course.

At the end of the marathon he literally had nothing in left. In fact, Charlie ran the half marathon that day and he and another runner who Joe had trained we around celebrating when Joe said guys, “I have to go to the bathroom.” Then pointed to the the porta potties and looked back at Joe and Joe said, “I am gonna need you to help get there. I don’t think my legs are working.” So, Charlie and this other guy let Joe put his arms around their shoulders and they helped hobble to the bathroom. As I watched Joe need to be assisted to the bathroom, I thought to myself “Why would anyone ever do this? Why punish your body like this?” Running a marathon is hard! It is a challenge and it discipline long before the actually race begins, it requires focus before and during the event, and when you do finish the goal is to be totally spent. The goal is to run in such a way that you leave it all out on the course like Joe did.

In today’s text we are told to run the race set before us with endurance. The author of Hebrews uses the greek marathon as a metaphor for the Christian life. The Christian life like a marathon is hard, it requires discipline, it requires focus, and the goal is know that when you make it to the end of your life, you have left everything out on the course. That you stand before the Lord and say, “I lived how you would have me live, and I didn’t hold anything back.”

In order to run our race with endurance as this text describes we will need two things. We will need inspiration and instruction. We need to be motivated or inspired to endure. Just like a long distance runner must find the inspiration or motivation to wake up early and take that long run in the cold. However, we also need instruction. We need to know how we ought to run if we are to run with endurance. Like the novice long distance runner must learn about pacing, changing up workouts, and diet so do we need to learn and be instructed in our faith. We must learn more and more about how Jesus is as the founder and perfecter of our faith.

The inspiration and instruction found this is text is intermixed throughout each verse. We see both of these realities as we work through each verse. Let us consider how we might run our race for Christ and read Hebrews 12:1-3.

Inspiration- The Great Cloud of Witnesses v. 1a

Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

Our text begins by alluding back to Hebrews 11 in which the author has walked us through the great men and women of the faith. He begins with creation and takes us through the exile which is the end of the OT. He tells of the lives of faithful saints who have before us and calls us to imitate their faith as we persevere in the faith. These saints from the OT are our great cloud of witness and he is saying that because of their example let us now lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race set before us.

Now the author of Hebrews is alluding to the greek marathons which were common sporting events of the day as he encourages us to run our race. During these marathons at the finish line would be a seating area, think a grandstand, in which past winners of past marathons would be seated. As the runners would finish their race they would finish in the presence of those who had run the race before them and won. The author is saying that we Christians are in the middle of a marathon race called life. And at the finish line there is a great cloud of witnesses of faithful saints that have gone before us and through Jesus have won the crown of life, not a perishable wreath but an imperishable one. These saints are cheering us on as we come across the finish line. As the song we often sing says,

“So Spirit, come, put strength in ev'ry stride, Give grace for ev'ry hurdle, That we may run with faith to win the prize Of a servant good and faithful

As saints of old still line the way, Retelling triumphs of His grace, We hear their calls and hunger for the day When, with Christ, we stand in glory”

And because this is true we get to joyfully hear the authors instruction.

Instruction- Lay Aside Every Weight and Sin v. 1b

As lives of saints of old bear witness to the triumph’s of God’s grace that we enjoy through faith we are to live more faithfully now. And live faithfully when we lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely. The greek marathon runners ran their races virtually naked. They didn’t want anything inferring with their speed. Even in modern racing the runners wear uniforms that are skin tight. Baggy clothing can get caught around and slow you down. If past champions are at the finish line you want to finish strong not tripping over your shoelaces. So, you must dress for the race.

In the Christian life this means laying aside the weight and sin that clings to us. The things that encumber our ability to follow Jesus the fullest. This race, the one run for Jesus is the one that matters most! If there is anything in your life that slows you down for Christ, it must be set aside. The weight referred to alludes to things in your life that may not be sin in off itself but it hinders your ability to follow Jesus as you ought. This can be small things like distracting entertainment like TV or social media. If you are struggling to pray and read your Bible on a regular basis but you have your favorite show memorized then that show has become a weight that needs laid aside. If your screen time of your phone was placed on the projector behind me for all to see would you feel ashamed? Perhaps it is kids sports, your own alone time, aspects of your career all good things in of themselves, but none as good as serving Christ and his church. This is a marathon. A race to be run with endurance and you can’t run with endurance held down by the weight of this world. Lay is aside to run after Jesus.

The sin referred to here is referencing our indwelling sin which manifest in specific and individual sins. All Christians still battle their own flesh sinful desires, and sin NEVER gets us closer to Jesus. Sin will never increase the intimacy between you and God. Yes, you are fully justified in Christ and adopted into his family as his child no matter what sin you commit so long as you place your faith in Jesus. However, faith in Jesus changes us. Sin must be put to death. Sin always kills our joy and greatly disrupts our communion with God. If you and I are to make it to the end of the race and cross the finish line we must go to war with our sin. We cannot give it quarter. Romans 8:13 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

We put our sin to death when we lay it aside and instead run to Jesus. Repentance is the act of turning away from our sin, admitting that it is wrong and resolving to no longer commit that sin. And this can only do with the help of Christ and the Spirit of God that dwells within us.

T/S- This is why we must be inspired by Jesus himself and be instructed in who he is.

Inspiration- Look to Jesus v. 2

Hebrews 12:2 “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Now, the author began to inspire us by pointing to the believers who have gone before us. Those who through faith lived in a way that pleased God and endured various hardships in this life all to receive their reward in eternity as a result of the work of Christ. He points to these old saints, but it is all a set up. The stories in Hebrews 11 are all meant to climax not in their individual stories but in the story of Christ. For those who like literature they are the preface, the setting, the rising action but Jesus is the climax. For the musicians in the room they are the prelude, the verse, the bridge, that leads to the crescendo and chorus that is Christ. For sports fans they are the assist, they set the screen, they bump and set but Jesus is the one who scores! Hebrews 11 summarizes the biblical storyline to tell help us see how God uses people of faith, but also sets up Hebrews 12 where the celebrates the object of that faith. Christ, the founder and perfecter of our faith is the one who endured the ultimate hardship and shame in the his passion and death on the cross, but he did it all for the joy set before him. The reality that he knew the Son of Man would lie in the tomb for three days, and on the third rise again. He then would go on to ascend to sit at the right of God to rule over this world.

In a word, the inspiration for Christian living is the Gospel. The good news that Jesus Christ came to live and die for sinners. As my Simon reminded me the other day. Jesus died, so that we can live! You cannot obey, you will not finish your race, if you do not hold fast to the Gospel. As we strive to run our race with endurance we can only hope to this if our eyes are set on Jesus. He is our motivation and power to change and obey.

T/S- Which is why we must know the real Jesus, the Biblical Jesus. Not the Jesus that is the invention of your mind or our culture, but the real Jesus presented to us in God’s Word.

Instruction - Know the Biblical Jesus v. 2

If Jesus is our motivation then we need the real thing and not a copy the conforms to our wants. The Jesus of the Bible is the founder and perfecter of our faith. Some translations choose the words author and finisher of our faith, others the originator and perfecter of our faith, I even saw one that chose to translate this phrase, “the champion who initiates our and perfects our faith.” The point is of the text is that Jesus is the beginning and end of our faith. He starts our salvation and brings it to completion. This is not new idea to the book of Hebrews. In Hebrews 2:10 “For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.” Jesus is the founder/author/initiator of our faith because according to Hebrews 1 the world was created through Him, according to Hebrews 2 salvation was made possible through his suffering and resurrection. Hebrews 2:17–18 “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect (that is become human, totally God and totally man), so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people (Jesus was the perfect priest and sacrifice for our sins, he took our place.) For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” The original audience of this book was a people tempted to abandon Christ and return to their old way of life. They were being persecuted for their faith in Christ and pressured to return to the old sacrificial system that Jesus came to fulfill in his once and for all death for sin.

The author is telling them you can perserve even when under intense pressure because you have Jesus. He has been tempted in every way and yet without sin, so as you are tempted cling to Christ and you too and endure temptation without sinning. If we are to perserve we must look to Jesus. We must set our eyes are him if we are to run the race set before us.

Now the problem I suspect for most us isn’t knowledge. Our problem isn’t that we don’t know that Jesus died for our sins, but our problem is that the difficulties of life often capture our focus. We lose our focus on the realities of Christ victory. The victory as the one who for the joy set before him endured the cross for us and rose victorious to the right hand of God. That joy set before Him is the joy of glorifying the Father by brining many sons and daughters to glory. Jesus endured the cross because he wanted to present the Father His church, you and I. Those who believe in Jesus are now pure and spotless because we are washed in the blood of the perfect Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ.

But temptation and difficulty still persists in this life. The race is won, but we are still running the marathon. We know what waits at the end, but we still but keep on course, run the race that has been set before us. And if we are honest, from time to time we can start to drift off course. What is happening, when this drift start to take place?

Let me try to illustrate what I think is happening when we drift from our course using a photo. The foreground in a photo is that which appears toward the front of the photo. The background is that which happens towards the back of the photo. Now, photographers can use the focus on their camera either bring the foreground or the background into focus. The photo on the left has the foreground in focus, and therefore the man in the background is just a blur. The photo on the right has the opposite affect. The man is clear and crisp in the background while foreground is blurred.

In our life experience the pleasures and pains of life are usually in the foreground of our vision. These are the things that are right in front of us, the loom largest in our sight. And if we are not intentional about our sight then the foreground will be the only thing in focus. And Jesus, who in the day to day of life is often experientially in the background becomes a blur. It can be a challenge to keep Jesus and his Gospel in focus when we have to get the kids to practice, take care of the house, deal with the latest broken thing, plan the family get together, pack for vacation, plan for the upcoming school year, move to a new home, buy a new car, consider our retirement plans, get ready for the new baby, plan the wedding… just to name a few of the pleasures and pains of life that being experienced right now in small church in Columbus, OH.

These things, these weights which so often cling so close to us cannot consume our focus. Yes, many of these responsibilities are good and godly in their own right. But if they cause Jesus to become a blur, then we must lay them aside. Our auto feature in the lens of our minds tends to focus on the foreground. Stress, anger, anxiety, envy, immorality in a word: Sin, is often the result of our focus being on the foreground. We are focused on what is right in front of us instead of focusing on Jesus. We trade the most urgent for the most important.

Brothers and sisters we must choose to make Jesus our focus, look to Jesus if you long to stay on course in this life. How do we do this?

Instruction/Inspiration- Consider Jesus v.3

Hebrews 12:3 “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”

The biggest problem when running a marathon is growing weary or fainthearted. The only way to finish a marathon is to have the endurance necessary to make it to the end. If you run out our gas, if you get overly tired and weary, if you just aren’t motivated to keep going then you will stop. And our text tells us if we are to not grow weary or fainthearted then we must consider Jesus.

The consideration mentioned here is not a passing thought, a short pause here and there, but it is an intense and insight consideration of Christ. We consider him and consider his sacrifice for our sins. We consider the endurance he displayed while sinners were hostile to Him. As we see the Son of God endure hostility from people who are not worthy to even wash his feet, it inspires and enables us to endure hostility as well. We can endure in this life because Jesus endured til the end of his earthly life.

Let us even now consider Jesus and the hostility endured as we read from Mark 15:16–25 “And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him.” Mark 15:26–30 “And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!”” Mark 15:31–39 “So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”

We must shift our focus and look to Jesus. That even as he endured this hostility he did if for the joy set before him. He did it knowing it would accomplish the Glory of the Father, the salvation of his people from every tribe and nation. In his death he put Death to death. He won the victory for us over the devil, the world, and our sin. And when we focus on this the pleasures and pains of this earth begin to blur. Our vision of Jesus becomes clear and crisp. And this image brings us joy, the joy of Jesus. The joy of participating in his mission to see the glory of the Father through the salvation of his people from every tribe and nation.

As the hymn tells us,

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full, in his wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of his glory and grace”

Conclusion

My prayer is that each of you finish the race that has been set before you. My hope is that all of you would see the wonder, joy, and beauty of Jesus and that because of his greatness you would joyfully lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely. That you would look to Jesus and see him as he truly is: the author and perfecter of our faith, the one who endured shame and pain on our behalf, but did it with joy because he knew what it would accomplish! The one seated at the right hand of the throne of God! That as we gaze upon Christ the pleasures and pains of this world that so often capture our attention would blur out of view. I pray that the image of Jesus would be crisp and clear in your mind as you continually make it your aim to consider Him. And to know that you don’t do this alone. You and I have a great cloud of witnesses of faithful saints that have before. Their biographies proclaim the glories of Christ, and in the here and now we have one another. When our focus is off, we can take joy when fellow believers tell us to stop focusing on the foreground and call our attention to the beauty of the background. Behold Christ in all his glory. And this world will grow strangely dim. Let’s pray.